During the meetings held in Dalian, China from 18 to 22 May 2026, UIC demonstrated its continued leading role in the development of the Future Railway Mobile Communication System (FRMCS) through active participation in several 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) working group meetings.
During this intensive standardisation week, UIC experts contributed extensively to the SA1#114, SA6#73, CT1#161, and RAN4#119 standards, helping to ensure that railway operational requirements continue to be incorporated into global 3GPP standards.
FRMCS, developed by UIC as the successor to the Global System for Mobile Communications – Railways (GSM-R), is based on 3GPP Mission Critical Services and 5G technologies. UIC plays a unique role in translating operational railway needs into standardised technical requirements and actively represents the railway sector within 3GPP. This participation spans service requirements, system architecture, protocols, and radio performance aspects, ensuring that railway-specific needs are addressed within international telecommunications standards and facilitating worldwide interoperability for future railway communications .
Throughout the Dalian meetings, UIC submitted and supported numerous technical contributions covering key FRMCS topics, which support the ongoing evolution of 3GPP Releases 19 and 20, as well as future releases, further strengthening the technical foundation of FRMCS.
As railways across the world prepare for the transition from GSM-R to FRMCS, UIC remains committed to working closely with railway operators, suppliers, regulators, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), and 3GPP partners to deliver a robust, interoperable, and future-proof communication system supporting the digital transformation of rail transport.
This is a critical part of the framework that plans to introduce FRMCS V3 specifications to the Technical Specification for Interoperability – Control-Command and Signalling (TSI CCS) in 2028, when FRMCS implementation will officially start.
